Pixies - Figment of the imagination

For some reason this
rock band from Boston, Massachusetts is much more appreciated outside the US
than by their fellow-Americans.

Almost everyone agrees that the band name was dreamed
up by lead guitarist Joey Santiago, who – coming from the Philippines - is not
a native speaker of the English language. But that could very well be the very reason
that Joey is inspired by certain English words.

The rhythm guitarist of The
Pixies, Black Francis (born as Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV), once related how the band name came about. Apparently Joey had a fascination for certain
words. He first wanted to call the band - believe it or not - Pixies in Panoply
(freely translated that could mean something like ‘A wide array of Elfs’ or even 'Elfs armed to the teeth'). That
was then shortened to Pixies.